Digital Technology: Digital health: a neglected part of health curricula?

• Published in: Future healthcare journal Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 18 - 20
• Main Authors: Utukuri, Mrudula, D’souza, Felecia, Deighton, Alexander, Le, Elizabeth PV, Osei-Boadu, Benedict, Gadi, Nishita, Axiaq, Ariana, Aung, Yuri YM, Agboola, Bridget, Chand, Chandini P, Dibblin, Connor, Patel, Chandni R, Abedi, Mohsin, Hirniak, Johnathan, Ta, Ngan H, Rudd, James HF, Sethi, Rajiv
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2022
• Subjects: digital health; education; undergraduate; undergraduate; education; digital health
• ISSN: 2514-6645
• DOI: 10.7861/fhj.2021-0102

With growing government investment and a thriving consumer market, digital technologies are rapidly transforming our means of healthcare delivery. These innovations offer increased diagnostic accuracy, greater accessibility and reduced costs compared with conventional equivalents. Despite these benefits, implementing digital health poses challenges. Recent surveys of healthcare professionals (HCPs) have revealed marked inequities in digital literacy across the healthcare service, hampering the use of these new technologies in clinical practice. Furthermore, a lack of appropriate training in the associated ethical considerations risks HCPs running into difficulty when it comes to patient rights. In light of this, and with a clear need for dedicated digital health education, we argue that our focus should turn to the foundation setting of any healthcare profession: the undergraduate curriculum.